From Sandro Magister of Chiesa:
ROME, November 25, 2010 – Toward the end of his book-length interview "Light of the World," which recently went on sale in various languages, Benedict XVI refers to his other book about Jesus, his "latest major work."
He recalls that "in a completely deliberate way" he wanted that book not to be an act of the magisterium, but the offering of his own personal interpretation.
And he adds: "This naturally represents an enormous risk."
On the afternoon of Monday, November 22, speaking one-on-one with the pope, the director of the Vatican press office, Fr. Federico Lombardi, asked him if he knew that he was facing an even greater risk with the book-length interview that was about to be released.
"When I asked this question, the pope smiled," Fr. Lombardi recounted.
Exactly right. "Light of the World" is a unprecedentedly audacious book, for a pope. It is the complete transcription of six hours of spontaneous, uncensored interview. On an incredibly wide array of issues, even the most uncomfortable.
The answers are short and to the point. The language is conversational but precise, simple, completely free of jargon. There are occasional flashes of irony.
Of course, the launching of the book was not without its flaws. Fr. Lombardi himself recognized that the preview of a few passages by "L'Osservatore Romano," on the afternoon of Saturday, November 20, right in the middle of the consistory, "was not handled well." On the passage about the condom, breathlessly covered by the media all over the world, it was necessary to run for cover, on Sunday the 21st, with a note of clarification approved word for word by the pope.
So the book ran into one "risk" immediately. The pope saw himself pulled into the fray straight off, on an issue he touched upon in only two pages out of 250, the same issue that in the spring of 2009, at the beginning of his voyage to Africa, had earned him a firestorm of criticism.
But if one looks at what has happened in recent days, the experiment has had surprisingly beneficial effects outside and inside of the Church.
Read the entire piece. Also, visit the Light of the World blog for much more news and information about the just released book.
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